Bee Monument, ca 1939

Barnard Bee, 3rd US Infantry

Beet Poet – Pt. II

It seems there is more to the Bee poem.  You can find the details, and more wonderful drawings, here.  The site says that the poem was written in 1856, when Bee was a captain of the 10th Infantry – that is to say, not by a young Bee in Mexico.  Here is the full text (I particularly like the slam to the dragoons):

Our Army is a Motley Crew

In dress and armour, duties too,

And each and all I love to see -

But most I love the Infantry.

In tented field, in Ladies bower

Alike they shine – all feel their power.

Though other corps are dear to me

Yet most I prize the Infantry.

The engineer, with science crowned,

For action, traces out the ground.

Artillery at distance play,

Dragoons sometimes do clear the way.

The sharp advance, the pistol shot,

The quick retreat, at rapid trot!

The foe advances, light and free.

Who meets him then?  The Infantry!

And so that glorious host move on,

Their bayonets glistening in the sun.

Onward they hold their steadfast way

Tho’ deathshots round them madly play

Their comrades slain (?), their banners torn

These noble hearts, still proudly form.

And hark!  A shout – ’tis Victory!

Who would not love the Infantry?

Beet Poet

My apologies for failing to wish Barnard Bee a happy 183rd birthday last Thursday, February 8.  It’s really inexcusable since I had already written two bits (here and here) about him and his monument.  Mea culpa, General, and I hope you had a grand time on your big day there in your niche.

While searching around for info last week I ran across a drawing and poem that, according to this site, is attributed to young Bee in Mexico.

 

 

 

Here’s the text of the poem, in case you have trouble reading it:

 

 

Our Army is a Motley Crew

In dress and armour, duties too,

And each and all I love to see –

But most I love the Infantry.

In tented field, in Ladies bower

Alike they shine – all feel their power.

Though other corps are dear to me

Yet most I prize the Infantry.

Bee Redux

I got some more info on the Bee monument, courtesy of the ever helpful Jim Burgess at Manassas NBP.  The granite monument was erected by the Mary Taliaferro Thompson Southern Memorial Association (MTTSMA) of Washington, DC.  It was dedicated at 2 PM on Friday, July 21, 1939, the 78th anniversary of the battle, nearly a year before the establishment of the Park.

The guest speaker at the dedication was Col. J. Rion McKissick, president of the University of South Carolina.  Miss Anna Rives Evans, president of the Children of the Confederacy of the District of Columbia, unveiled the eight-foot-plus monument.  Mrs. Norma Hardy Britton of the MTTSMA made the presentation and state senator John W. Rust, president of the Manassas Battlefield Association, made the acceptance speech.  A descendant of J.E.B. Stuart, Dr. Warren Stuart, delivered the invocation.  The program also included a recitation by Mrs. Edward Campbell Shield, president of the Stonewall Jackson Chapter of the U.D.C. of Washington.  The last surviving Confederate veteran of Prince William County, Robert Cushing, and another vet, Peter B. Smith of Arlington, were honored guests.

Thanks, Jim!

Also, from the Richmond Dispatch for July 29, 1861:

The following is from the Richmond correspondence of the Charleston Mercury:

The name of this officer deserves a place in the highest niche of fame. He displayed a gallantly that scarcely has a parallel in history. The brunt of the morning’s battle was sustained by his command until past 2 o’clk. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, and compelled to yield before a fire that swept everything before it, Gen. Bee rode up and down his lines, encouraging his troops, by everything that was dear to them, to stand up and repel the tide which threatened them with destruction. At last his own brigade dwindled to a mere handful, with every field officer killed or disabled. He rode up to Gen. Jackson and said: “General, they are beating us back.”

The reply was: “Sir, we’ll give them the bayonet”

Gen. Bee immediately rallied the remnant of his brigade, and his last words to them were: “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me!”

His men obeyed the call; and, at the head of his column, the very moment when the battle was turning in our favor, he fell, mortally wounded. Gen. Beauregard was heard to say he had never seen such gallantry. He never murmured at his suffering, but seemed to be consoled by the reflection that he was doing his duty.

Barnard Bee Monument

I love to take pictures.  A visit to any battlefield typically yields dozens of images.  In photography I subscribe to a theory similar to that which I follow in boating: if you can’t tie good knots, tie lots of knots.  So, every once in awhile I take a nice picture, but it is purely by accident.

My plan is to post one or two of my photos here every Friday.  I will try to use photos with some Bull Run connection, but will only promise that they will all be associated with the American Civil War.

First up is the monument to Brigadier General Barnard Bee at First Bull Run, erected in 1939.  I took this in April 2005.  The monument sits on Henry Hill at the site where Bee uttered to the 4th Alabama the immortal words: “There stands Jackson like a stone wall.  Let us determine to die here and we will conquer.” Or perhaps it was “Come with me and go yonder where Jackson stands like a stone wall.”  There are several versions.  Shortly thereafter, between 2:00 and 3:00 PM, Bee was wounded in the abdomen and exclaimed “I am a dead man; I am shot.”  He died the next day at Manassas Junction, and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, SC St. Paul’s Episcopal Churchyard in Pendleton, SC.

Coverage of the “stone wall” incident in an article that first appeared in the Charleston Mercury on July 25 would be reprinted and adapted throughout the Confederacy.  The article was intended to elevate the martyred Bee to “a place in the highest niche of fame”, but in spite of that, and regardless of what Bee meant by them (whether or not they were laudatory, and whether or not Bee said them, is debated to this day), his words as reported would elevate Thomas Jackson and his brigade to legendary status.

 

To Purge This Land With Beer

I’m working on a number of things for posts here.  In fact, I have taken to keeping a notebook with me so that I can write down these ideas as they pop into my head.  This bit is not earth shattering, but cool nonetheless.  Last year I took part in an online book discussion of Stephen Oates’ “To Purge This Land With Blood”, and have to say that Brown is a fascinating character –  I’m envious of the man’s clarity.  There must be great contentment and freedom that goes along with being able to see everything as either black or white.  At left is a version of the Kansas Statehouse mural that I had never seen before.  Thanks to e-quaintance (that’s someone I’ve never met and know only via the internet) and Kansan extraordinaire Pat Jones for supplying the link to Free State Brewing Co.   I asked the wife for one of the long sleeve T-shirts as a birthday present.

Preview – Horn: “The Siege of Petersburg”

Savas-Beatie continues its series of 150th Anniversary revised editions with a rework of John Horn’s 1991 Howard Battles and Leaders Series study, Destruction of the Weldon Railroad Deep Bottom Globe Tavern and Reams Station August 14-25, 1864. The new title is The Siege of Petersburg: The Battles for the Weldon Railroad, August 1864, just so you don’t get confused. The subject is what’s known as Grant’s Fourth Offensive, dubbed the longest and most costly offensive of the Petersburg Campaign, and involved the battles of Second Deep Bottom, Globe Tavern, and Second Reams’s Station.

What you get is 313 pages of text, plus four statistical tables, and three Orders of Battle. The tables are new to this edition, as are the maps by Hampton Newsome (there appear to be plenty of them, but whether or not they serve to illuminate the text remains to be seen.) The text has also been updated with more than 20 years of new research, most notably provided by what has been published as Civil War Talks: The Further Reminiscences of George S. Bernard and His Fellow Veterans, co-edited by Horn, the memoir of a Petersburg lawyer who was a member of the 12th Virginia Infantry.

As usual, you also get a quality hardback binding, real-live footnotes, and a sturdy and colorful jacket. And all for $32.95. Not too shabby!

Preview: Hood – “The Lost Papers of Confederate General John Bell Hood”

I recently received from publisher Savas-Beatie a copy of Stephen M. Hood’s The Lost Papers of Confederate General John Bell Hood. This can be viewed as support, so to speak, for some of Hood’s earlier John Bell Hood: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Confederate General (see my review here.) In this new, 269 page book author Hood presents and annotates his collateral ancestor’s (mostly) post war private correspondence which has been held by the family since his death (these are separate from his “war papers” which were mysteriously acquired by the National Archives in 1938.) Many of these were composed during the General’s writing of his autobiography, Advance and Retreat. Author Hood has presented the documents by topic, chronologically. Some of the topics: Dr. John Darby’s medical reports concerning Hood’s Gettysburg and Chickamauga wounds; The Atlanta Campaign; Cassville; War strategy after the fall of Atlanta; Spring Hill, Franklin, & Nashville; and Advance and Retreat. An appendix, Laudanum, Legends, and Lore, wraps things up. Richard McMurry provides a foreword. Also included are facsimiles of many of the 126 documents transcribed.

Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Sign Stolen

By J. J. Prats, April 30, 2007
Courtesy of http://www.hmdb.org/

Friend Jim Morgan sent the following message this morning.

Dear friends of historic preservation in Northern Virginia,

As many of you know, the Department of Historical Resources historical marker about the battle of Ball’s Bluff was recently stolen from its location near the intersection of the Route 15 Bypass and Battlefield Parkway. The Friends of Ball’s Bluff have taken on the task of raising funds to replace it. It was one of the very earliest of these markers in the state, as it was first installed in 1928 (though its original location was on Route 15, King Street, near the entrance to the Leesburg Union Cemetery).

Please click on this link to the story in Leesburg Today for all the background and details:

As you will see in the story, we are taking this opportunity to update the text in the new sign. The old one did not provide much information beyond the mere fact of the battle. The updated text is included in the story.

As of today, we have raised about $350 of the $1630 needed for a new sign and we really have just begun this fund-raising campaign. I’m confident that the historical community in this area will come through as it so often does for the various kinds of projects in which we all try to get involved.

Please send any donations to the Friends of Ball’s Bluff at the address noted in the newspaper story. And feel free to pass this appeal along to anyone whom you think might be interested.

Thanks in advance to all of you who can help. Please contact me with any questions.

Best to all,

Jim Morgan
Chairman, Friends of Ball’s Bluff
scalpem@hughes.net
571-225-2812

UPDATE 2/13/2015: Jim Morgan sends along this info:

Dear all,

I want to let you know that our fund-raising campaign has been a success and we have raised the $1630 necessary to pay for a replacement sign. Thanks to all of you who donated and helped spread the word.

We await the final approval of the text by the DHR board on March 19 but we don’t anticipate any problem with that. Once that’s done, we’ll order the sign. Getting it manufactured and then installed will take a couple of months. We will be holding a dedication ceremony probably in June but I’ll be in touch with final details once everything is arranged.

This campaign went much more quickly than any of us had anticipated. We on the Friends of Ball’s Bluff board deeply appreciate the generosity of the Civil War and historic preservation communities. Again, my sincere thanks.